How Does Social Media Improve Interpersonal Relationships?

More than two thousand years ago, a beautiful Greek hunter, Narcissus, saw his reflection in a pool of water and immediately fell in love with it, unaware that it was his own image. He thereafter became overly infatuated with the reflection, and remained fixated, staring at own beauty until his death. This Greek mythology gave rise to narcissism - a term that was entrenched into the books of psychology by Sigmund Freud, the psychoanalyst whose work pioneered the study of egoism and its relation to the wider society. Today, the prevalent use of social media platforms has awakened narcissism in our society. Individual self-esteem is highly dependent on the number of likes, followers and personal moments on social media platforms. Many are consequently
The rise of social media has sparked a global wave of technology development since they have widened Internet connectivity across the world. social media can develop interpersonal relationships by using social application that offers an opportunities for engagement, entertainment and education, Tertadian in his book argues that social media is a modern necessity with incomparable levels of connectedness, which has supported the growth and development of interpersonal relationships (2012). But how far this social media can improve our interpersonal relations? , The interaction via social media cannot be compared by real life interaction between human beings, the relationships have subsequently become superficial using social media, and the subjects to discuss using social media can’t be as deep as real life conversation and instead of fixing problems, the coldness and absence of feeling while communicating by social media can lead to bigger problems, Rosen explains that “Continuous indulgence in social media platforms creates anti-social feelings of rejection even within families leading to failed relationships, as a result of social media addiction have recently been labeled as iDisorder”( 2012). This proves that social media can’t replace face to face interactions, even if technology improved and social media make it easier to communicate by just some touches on the screen of the smartphone, feelings, face expressions and live interact can’t be transferred to people using social media networks, the Center for the Digital future shows that the percentage of people reporting less face-to-face time with family in their homes rose from 8% in 2000 to 34% in 2011. 32% reported using social media or texting during meals (47% of 18-34 year olds) instead of talking with family